Tell me you noticed, tell me you heard
by SimkaWHO
Summary: I was told these would be the golden years of our lives. Living with my best friends in a MAGICAL CASTLE during the seventies in the UK , I can't honestly say I'm disappointed. But how am I supposed to enjoy hedonistic parties or roller disco when a boy I secretly adore is a complete mystery to me? Remus X OC / James X Lily / Sirius X anybody, cause that's the way he rolls


_**Of moonwalkers and introductions - prologue**_

**Author's note : **Hello reader! This is my first story, so please,be patient with me. I would really appreciate any kind of feedback, so I could improve myself. I hope you enjoy!

**P.S.: **The story is set during the marauders era- sixth year, which is supposed to be around 1976. I tried to make it as accurate as possible, so shoutout to whoever invented the Phases of the Moon Android app.

You and your -enter the year- feature are awesome!

**Disclaimer**: I wished upon a star to create the most amazing piece of art, that would be celebrated by millions of people, and thus Harry Potter was born. Nah, Harry Potter belongs to wonderful J.K. Rowling. (While the star is dead, just like my hopes and dreams. )

**Tuesday, December 6th 1976, 05.00, Gryffindor common room**

The Space.

It's so mysterious and beautiful. It spans infinite stars and galaxies. Just thinking about it makes me feel small, worthless, unimportant. But is it really infinite? Is there intelligent life out there ? Are we considered intelligent life by aliens? What happens when we die ? Do we simply stop existing or reincarnate? Oh how cool would it be if we could just regenerate like the lad from Doctor Who !

Okay. Seriously, how could I ever think drinking coffee after 2 P.M. is a good idea ? I should just put the blame on Lily. Apparently, she thinks that by my everyday need of some healthy afternoon napping I deprive myself of life, even though I've never missed any of our annual six to nine hours long cramming sessions. Talk about wasting life. Nevertheless, by my desperate efforts to overcome the oh so passionate need to nap, I had to resort to desperate measures- as in coffee.

Which brings me here. It's almost five in the morning and I'm sitting on a window sill in our Gryffie common room, having nothing better to do but watch the full moon slowly fade and contemplate the issues of life . I made the decision to come down here half an hour ago, because I was getting sick of all the pointless shifting in my bed, getting all sweaty from the heavy covers, while repeating the mantra:

„Just try to sleep, Anna. You need to sleep. You still have 8 (this number kept decreasing) hours of sleep."

I guess the power of suggestion is overrated. I even tried counting sheep.

No results were noticed, so I just gave up and miraculously managed to cross the room without waking any of my lucky-enough-to-be-sleeping friends. How will I even be able to survive today, without as much as a single hour of sleep ? We even have the morning killer combo of double potions, double Transfiguration. Bleurgh. Then we have Merlin's gift to students- Care of magical creatures, which I ace and love, love, love and Herbology. After that, I can finally nap! Who needs life anyways?

A desperate thought of possible oncoming sleepiness crossed my mind as I rubbed my eyes violently.

I considered hitting the sack, when suddenly I heard the faint sound of footsteps outside, in the hall. I thought I was imagining it out of my poor bored mind at first, but they kept getting louder. Somebody is trying to get in. After curfew! Or.. before? Well, I´m not much of a social bird, but I´ve never thought it was common for people to go on casual strolls around the castle at 5 A.M. Even if it was, I would have noticed them pass by. Merlin, Filch would have noticed them ! Okay, calm down, breathe in, breathe out. Focus. Multiple footsteps. That means like there´s more than a single person, right? I´ve never really been really into investigating,as the closest I´ve ever gotten to detective was watching Charlie's Angels on cable. I´m too much of a muggle for my own good.

Deatheaters.

That must be it ! That psycho cult reigned by"He who must not be named"-as in Lord Voldemort, darkest wizard of our time and mass murderer. I've heard some rumours about deatheater group being formed here, in Hogwarts, but I was too scared to consider it true. Yeah, I longed for excitement, but not really one of this kind.

I panicked.

I left my wand in the bedroom. You know all the „Hogwarts is the safest place on Earth" propaganda. Safest place my arse! What if I died today? Will I float around here like Myrta, that annoying git that keeps bothering us when we have a personal pool party in the prefect's bathroom ?

NO! Think straight. Logical. Hide!

I heard the portrait wiggle and quickly jumped of the window sill. I crouched behind a big red stuffed armchair and waited. The portrait hole was opening. I held my shaking hands to my chest, my breathing heavy and uneven. The portrait hole opened only to reveal.. nothing. NOTHING. Literally. What the hell?

I remained hidden and tried taking it all in. Then I heard something similar to jerking of a fabric and out of thin air materialised The Marauders.

„AAAAH!"I jumped in surprise while pointing my finger at them accusingly.

„BAAAAA!" they screamed in unison as they backed away from me, their expressions imitating deers in the headlights.

„What are YOU doing here ?" we all screamed in unison.

I got my word first. „What am I doing here? Really did YOU just ask me that? Can't a girl sit innocently in the window of a room that's supposed to be made for everyone to sit in at an unfortunate time of 5 A.M. without somebody accusing her ..of something?" I rambled, out of surprise and my raising anger. How dare they make me so scared, then expect an explanation from me.

„I should be the one asking the questions!" I declared, with my hand raised in the air. „Why couldn't I see you coming ? You..You simply appeared. Wait, did you apparate? But you can't do that in Hogwarts! And what were you doing out in the night ? Is this a part of another one of your stupid pranks?"

I can't believe I acted like a hysterical psycho in front of them. It's not just that I always tried to maintain the calm and collected image, which I basically murdered right now, it's THE MARAUDERS.

I took a long look at them. My gaze landed on Black, looking a little baffled, but it was apparent that he was trying to come up with some lie, that would sound legit enough to cover up their real doing.

Sirius, the shining star of their group. The boy who managed to get over the prejudice of his name and became the most popular boy (man?) at school. The descriptions of his overwhelming handsomeness were gracing the diaries of many adolescent girls. With his muscular built, sharp features, deep gray eyes and shampoo- commercial silky black hair, he was the kind of human being, that was just too perfect, so you decided to ignore him for the sake of your own confidence.

Also he is a smug, self- centered jackass, just like his best friend James Potter, who, in addition, was a perfect example of a captain of the quidditch team cliché. Chaser, winner of four house cups and genetic lottery. (And an unofficial award Best butt 1975)

The only difference between those two is that Black is after everything that is willing to do him (and having the most impressive boobs to waist to ass ratio) while Potter has eyes only for one girl, which happens to be my best mate Lily.

He sure has interesting ways of proving his affection for her.

Like that time in third year, when he, driven by raging hormones, kept on sneaking behind her and opening her bra, which lasted him for about four months and made Lily only wear sport bras for a while.

Or last year, when he got desperate after she rejected his serenade at the dinner, she found him wasted, in her bed, wearing only underwear and a rose between his teeth, while the soft tones of Barry White were playing. Charming. We still hum „My first, my last, my everything" to annoy her.

So long story short, they´ve got the looks, they´ve got the reputation and as much as I hate to admit that, they´ve got the brains and are completely aware of it.

Behind Black and Potter stood Peter Pettigrew, who is noticeably less outgoing (or attractive) but not less of a troublemaker. Peter is kind of an interesting subject of my ongoing observation. He seems to agree with anything James or Sirius say, but still doesn't feel like a brown noser. He is kind of on the short and chubby side and has incredibly messy eating skills,but still he has this kind of charm (which I assume you receive after your Marauders member confirmation).

According to the Hogwarts gossip treadmill, he is the only marauder with a steady girlfriend. I know,I´m still flabbergasted about this piece of information. If it´s only Peter, it´s all nice.

Oh, that brings me to..

My heart abruptly sunk when I realized somebody's missing.

„Chillax, got your knickers in a twist?"James said, trying to stall.

I threw a nasty look at them.

„While we do not question your absolutely legitimate reasons of being here at this ungodly hour, I don't believe you have the right to demand an explanation from us, as you are not a prefect nor we are any of your business." Sirius said with an arrogant grin.

Well, that left me a little dumbfounded. What am I supposed to say to that?

„Don't pull that face, Anna, Sirius didn't mean to be so rude. Did you, Padfoot?" said James amicably.

„Well you certainly sounded like you mean it."

„I know. I am a wonderful . Hard night. You would have known I wasn't being serious-for once- if you ever talked to us. We don't bite, you know."

He looked into my eyes, wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and for a minute I thought, that maybe he was trying his charm on me. Bollocks. I am not his type and he certainly isn't mine.

I desperately needed to change the topic, so I blurted out the first thing on my mind.

„Where did you leave the fourth one ?" I tried hard not to sound too needy. Did I sound too needy?

„Ah, quite the observant one, aren´t you ?"

„Well, you did seem a little incomplete." They ARE a little incomplete, if you know what I mean.

„Remus, our beloved, has some business he has to handle right now", said James with a concerned frown. „The three of us don´t satisfy your needs ?"

Business? What kind of business ? Did he suddenly become a stockbroker, or what? Should I ask?

„Oh the three of you satisfy me very much. Boy, that sounded wrong. Please, forget about it. Anyways, I was just wondering, what kind business specifically, do you have in mind? "

Okay. Curiosity killed the cat.

They looked at each other conspiracionally , when finally Sirius said: „One of his relatives is sick. He had to go check on him. Why do you care ? Does Moony have a special place in your little heart, or are you generally nosy?"

Darn. Busted. Now if I could only use my wit and intelligent speech patterns to get out of this delicate situation...

„Eh, nosy, I guess. Anyways, I guess I should sack the hit now. I mean hit the stack! No! I mean I´m tried. Tired. Sleep. I need. I-I´ll just go."

Or I can absolutely mortify myself. Well, sounding like an asian tourist asking for the directions to Barrowlands can be considered a talent, right?

Nope. And now they were laughing at me. Not with me. At me. I´ve never felt the difference more than now. I am now officially an epithet of pathetic.

I waited for them to finish their laughing, because obviously, they wanted to tell me how I am a pathetic excuse for a witch and that I will never be cool. And you know what? I´m ready for it. I don´t have the energy to run away with shame anyways.

„Go to sleep, Goodwin, Merlin knows you need it" said Black, cocky grin plastered on his face.

Better than I expected. Still, as if I needed his seal of approval.

„Good night, then, moonwalkers."

„Night Goodwin, we will inform Remus you´ve been inquiring about him!"James shouted after me, as I was already taking the steps by two.

For a moment I forgot about everything as I tried to open the door in just the right way, that would make it possible for me to stuff myself through, without releasing the screeching moan that would wake everybody up. An urban legend says that the doors were installed by no other than Queen Victoria herself in her early years of reign.

After managing this James-Bond worthy act, I tiptoed to my bed, which was at the end of the room, neighboring Lily´s bed on the right and bathroom door on the left. Very convenient.

I drew my curtains to get rid of the painful sunlight and started over- analyzing.

So fact no.1: Marauders are up to something. Duh. It better be good if they had to organize it the whole night.

Fact no.2: They looked dirty and battered. They must have been running through the forest. Maybe Sirius got high again and followed the imaginary veela and James and Peter just had to look for his delirious self. This was indeed a real event, that occurred last month. Everyone knew about it by the next day and it was a major discussion topic at many parties. Viva la 70´s.

So let´s make it an **assumption no.1.**

**Assumption no.2.** The marauders are planning a massive prank, involving something from the forest like a centaur or a tree.

I´ll have to find out later.

Fact no.3: Remus was missing. Again.

The thing with Remus is, that he keeps disappearing at least once a month. It´s not that I stalk him. NO. I just notice him a little more. I may jump at every possibility of staring at him and kind of remember his schedule (it´s almost the same as mine, to be fair) but it´s all in healthy limits. So as a thoroughly obsessed observant person, I couldn´t let this fact go unnoticed.

It´s the assumption time again.

_**Assumption concerning Remus no.1**_**:** He really has a sick relative and poor health himself. Maybe the sickness is hereditary. Hm. This still sounds like an easy way out. Maybe I am over-thinking this, but this looks like a cover up. Like when somebody gets beaten up and then says he fell down the stairs. Ha. Transparent.

_**Assumption concerning R. no.2**_: He has some sort of weird hobby like roller disco and has to compete every month. Whilst this is a really entertaining thought, it seems highly unlikely.

_**A.C.R.**_ **no.3**: He has a secret. Like he fights the evil by night and studies by day or works at night to support himself (and/or his already sick family) . It´s not like I´m ever gonna find out. I can´t start seriously stalking him, I´m not a pervert.

If he would only talk to me.

I´ve had a crush on Remus ever since I remember. It has gotten into a phase, when the word „crush" feels like it isn´t enough to contain the things I feel for him. I looked it up, just to be sure.

**Crush**

(_Informal)_

**a. **A usually temporary infatuation.

**b. **One who is the object of such an infatuation.

See? It´s a word thirteen year olds use to describe Sirius.

Infatuation. What a terrible word to describe one´s feelings. Also, temporary? Who am I kidding?

Also another term- „platonic love" tends to be used in these situations. Knowing what Plato really meant by the term, it sounds less appealing.

I always compare what I feel to love, but can love be considered real when it´s onesided? It hardly seems fair.

I guess I should stay non-verbal about it.

Solbjørg has always been telling me to forget about him, to try to find another object of my affections and enjoy life instead of moping around because of one guy for six years.

But it just feels so wrong, to imagine myself with somebody else. And why should I be with somebody, knowing he always will be the second best ? I´ve never really considered Remus perfect, I don´t overlook his mistakes, like that he participates in mischief-making, even though he is a prefect or sometimes has his hair unevenly cut. He just feels perfect for me.

Even though we never really talked outside of class, or like the „pass me the Tabasco, please" moments.

The first time we met was on the boat, on our first trip to Hogwarts. We were both scared, children alone for the first time. Everything was new, everyone was a stranger. But he still took my hand when we first saw Hogwarts. For a moment, we sat there overwhelmed,our breath still, mouths ajar, lights of the castle reflecting on our intertwined hands. The sight held not only beauty, but promise to the future, while a part of our childhood was coming to an end. It was comforting to have somebody go through that with me.

Ever since then, I wasn´t able to take my mind of Remus.

After what must have been few seconds, but felt like an eternity (cliché, I know), he let go of my hand and we both shared a nervous laugh. We were too embarrassed to talk after that, and didn´t even know each other, so we stayed quiet the rest of the cruise.

Which pretty much never changed. Will it ever?

That was my last thought before drifting to sleep. Oh sweet mercy.


End file.
